How to Cope With Less Social Interaction?

We now live in an age where Mothers are left alone on Mother's day. There are no toilet rolls left in Aldi and the Prince of Wales has confirmed positive with Coronavirus. It's stir-crazy out there. But to prevent you going stir-crazy up there (taps temple vigorously with forefinger) I'm going to give you some hacks, tips and suggestions for keeping your sanity in self-isolation.

Change your mindset

You have to think of this self-isolation/social distancing as a temporary prison term. Now we've all seen prison movies. Some offenders go in and come out with college degrees, others come out with a 40-a-day habit and a face tattoo. You have to make up your mind early what kind of person you're going to be?

Learn a language - download Duolingo on your smartphone and pick a language you've always wanted to learn. Join a community online of native speakers and organise Skype lessons.

Learn an instrument - Thinking about the piano for example? The best App out there is Skoove. My mate Pete Brooker has written an article about it and gives you all the pros and cons on what’s involved.

Call an Old Work Colleague - Now is the time to phone a friend. Go through your Facebook friends and tap up an old work colleague or school buddy and do something you haven't done in ten years. Call them! People have little to no excuse to pick up the phone right now.

Learn photography - Yep you have a camera but you have never got off the auto setting. You have all the time in the world to work on your close ups. Your Lightroom skills. Figure out aperture, clean those lenses etc. Message me if you're stuck.

Start a podcast - Yes I've started mine called Coffee and Crossroads. Pick a niche or something you can talk openly about. Don't worry if no one is listening to begin with. This is more about passing the time and finding a community of people to talk to and share ideas.

Audible - I'm not going to tell you to read books because that's too obvious. Instead sign up to audible, first month is free and listen to a free audio book. You like James Bond? You'll find all the Ian Fleming books on Audible.

Jigsaws - Trust me they're oddly very therapeutic. They start as pure headaches but once you're 2/3rds of the way in your senses will be a supernova of endorphin rushes close to orgasmic.

Netflix/HBO/Amazon/Hulu - I have to thank Bald Bryan on Twitter for these recommendations of movies and documentaries you can stream through the different platforms. . Let me know if you agree with the list.

HIIT Training App - You're not going to the gym anymore so you're training like Rocky from your wood cabin, doing pull ups on your door frame. Check out this HIIT Training app called Alomoves.

Ok Read - I forgot that it's very important to read as well as listen. Your spelling will improve dramatick.. drammat.. drammaticali.. it will really help. I've put together a list of fashion reading material for you to make a start. Don't worry they have pretty pictures in.

Cut overheads - You might have caught my Insta video where I managed to shave 300 pound a month from my outgoings. Phone up SKY, BT, pause the gym, etc. Now's the time for some life admin.  Seriously, this is something you have to do NOW! Watch the full video on my YouTube now. 

The most interesting subject in the world is ... Art theft! I know mad but I can't get enough of it right now. There is a tonne of it on YouTube. You know the people who executed the most lucrative art heist in the world, The Boston Art Museum, have never been caught! Trust me you fall down this rabbit hole you'll never get out.

Own the best coffee machine in the world - you're not going to get the high-street quality coffee for quite some time. I won the lottery and was gifted this Barista One Touch machine and now my days are filled unabashed joy. Full article to come shortly.

Wash your trainers - It worked for Sam Neill. Catch him on Twitter as he smells his newly washed trainers in self isolation. I actually cleaned mine the other day, it's a social contract we should all sign that we actually, for the sake of variety, clean our trainers.